Fifty Indians, in the long dugouts, of grotesquely carved prows and
gaudy paint common among Pacific tribes, escorted Vancouver's boats
northward the second week in June through the labyrinthine passageways
of cypress-grown islets to Burrard Inlet. To Peter Puget was assigned
the work of coasting the mainland side and tracing every inlet to its
head waters. Johnstone went ahead in a small boat to reconnoitre the
way out of the Pacific. On both sides the shores now rose in beetling
precipice and steep mountains, down which foamed cataracts setting the
echo of myriad bells tinkling through the wilds. The sea was tinged
with milky sediment; but fog hung thick as a blanket; and Vancouver
passed on north without seeing Fraser River. A little farther on,
toward the end of June, he was astonished to meet a Spanish brig and
schooner exploring the straits. Don Galiano and Don Valdes told him of
the Fraser, which he had missed, and how the Straits of Fuca led out to
the North Pacific. They had also been off Puget Sound, but had not
gone inland, and brought Vancouver word that Don Quadra, the Spanish
emissary, sent to restore to England the fort from which Meares, the
trader, had been ousted, had arrived at Nootka on the other side of the
island, and was waiting.
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